"Mistress, what ails you?"

Hair plastered to my face with sweat, I thrashed away from the voice in the dark, taking a moment to process Nelo's amber eyes as friend rather than foe. My throat sore from yelling, I swallowed; a bitter, metallic taste on my tongue. "What?"

"Are you unwell? Is it the child?" Nelo's eyes loomed large in his face, scared to death, and only in the face of his fear did I find the ability to conquer some of mine.

"No." My voice sounded raspy to my own ears. "I'm... I'm okay, I had a bad dream." My arms still clutched my belly protectively.

My flat belly.

Well, not super flat, I've never been model thin or anything, but flatter than the bulging tummy in my nightmare.

Normal.

Falling back against the pillows, I took a deep calming breath, and noticed the faint glow of my Grace growing fainter as the terror faded.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" he asked hesitantly, and I reached out to pat his hand with a grateful smile.

"Yes, I would like that very much, Nelo, thanks."

There would be no more sleep for me that night.

As soon as I could reasonably make the call without waking up the whole household, my fingers sought out my phone. "h.e.l.lo, Luz? About that recommendation for a good doctor...?"

"Thanks for coming with me for moral support, I really appreciate it." Luz and I sat in the waiting room of her OB/GYN's office. I'd already picked up and discarded three magazines with smiling babies on the cover. Somehow I couldn't dig up enough interest in ads for breast pumps and Diaper Genies.

"No te preocupas, I don't mind. My sisters don't live near here and it's been a while since I was in your shoes. It's nice to share this experience again. Think about it, Mercy, you will get to hear the baby's heartbeat today," she beamed. I tried to rustle up the appropriate level of enthusiasm, but after my dream all I could think about was - would it be okay to ask the doctor to check for a tail?

We waited for another fifteen minutes, and then another twenty in the examination room, before the doctor joined us. Dr. Hathaway bustled in, making notes on a metal clipboard before looking up with a friendly grin. Tall and gangly, his aura was a bright yellow with orange highlights, which sorta went with his silver-streaked, blonde hair and sunny disposition.

"Which one of you is the expectant mother? Or should I say, which one is the biological one?"

"She is, I'm just here for moral support," Luz volunteered, taking a half step backwards.

"Good, good... nothing wrong with morals," he nodded, scribbling something else down. "Why don't you hop up on the table here and we'll get some vitals on you?" What followed was a series of rapid fire questions about my body and past history while he scribbled notes on the clipboard and punctuated my responses with, "Good, good..."

"Is there a reason why you're requesting an ultrasound so early?"

"Um... yeah, my family has a history of miscarriages, so I want to make sure everything's where it should be," I lied easily enough. Actually, I don't think my mother ever had any issues with her pregnancies, she always said we were big, healthy babies.

"Alrighty, let's take a look then, shall we?"

I had to crane my head up to view the ultrasound monitor and even then I had no idea what I was looking at. Without asking, Luz grabbed a pillow down off a shelf and propped it under my head. It felt strange not to have Daphne by my side for the milestone, but at the same time, she had her own problems to worry about, and I didn't want to add to her load.

The doc seemed to know what to look for, taking several still pictures, whistling to the tune of Three Times a Lady as far as I could make out. "Okey dokey," he said finally, "head... check, heart... beating strong, eyes... one, two, three...LMAO." He gave me a goofy grin and I tried to hide the breath of relief. For a second there, I'd been worried. Can you get hats for babies to hide a third eye? "Listen, if you follow me on Facebook I post regular articles on pregnancy and childbirth. I go by Hathababydoc - cute, huh? You can find me on Twitter too."

"How does it look, does it look normal?" I ignored the babble about liking his status and tried to keep the unreasoning panic out of my voice as I stared at the blob on the monitor.

"As normal as a bun in the oven looks at three months along, which isn't much to see to the naked eye. I'd say your due date is sometime around the middle of August."

"You mean two months," I frowned, doing a quick bit of math in my head. I'd slept with Adam in mid-December and it was only mid-February.

"No, I mean three. See this measurement here?" He pointed to the hashmarks on the screen indicating it was about two inches long. "Unless you've got a giant baby in there, you're three months along. That lines up with your last menses too, doesn't it?" He picked up the clipboard to consult his notes.

"Um, yeah, I guess so..." I'd been a little off my calculations, but I thought stress had something to do with it at the time. "But...that's not possible."

"Science begs to differ," he shrugged. "Try not to worry about it. That means your baby won't have to start school late when it gets to kindergarten, LOL."

"No te preocupas," Luz patted my shoulder. "It will be fine. The important thing is the bebe is healthy, no?"

"No... I mean, yes," I murmured, unable to let that one thing go. Adam had been trapped in Midian at the time, hadn't he? Whose baby was I carrying?

Dr. Hathaway went on about supplements and setting up regular monthly visits, things to avoid, punctuated with his weird text speak... I admit, I was only half listening, but Luz nodded like she absorbed it all. All too soon, he shook my hand and herded us out of there, with a hearty goodbye.

I let her guide me back to the car, in somewhat of a daze until we reached the parking lot. "This can't be good."

"So, you're farther along than you thought," she shrugged, taking the keys from my nerveless fingers. "All the better to be done with it sooner."

"No, you don't get it. There's absolutely no way I could be three months pregnant. Adam wasn't even around and I didn't sleep with anyone else. What if this is something else in there masquerading as a regular baby?" I lowered my voice, knowing it sounded insane.

"Calmate, the doctor said everything is a-okay. You have to stop freaking yourself out or you'll make yourself sick. Do you want me to take you home instead of back to work?"

"He said everything looked fine, that doesn't mean it's fine on the inside," I insisted stubbornly. "What if this is some kind of an immaculate conception, but of the evil variety?" I asked, thinking about Lucifer's interest in the baby.

"No, there isn't any evil inside you," she declared confidently and I wondered how she could know something like that.

"Well then, what if this is one of those babies that grows twice as fast as a normal kid? What if I wake up in a week and I'm swollen out to here?" I put my hand a foot away from my belly.

"I think you're going to make yourself crazy with all the what ifs. All you can do is worry about today. So... put your seat belt on." She spoke as if I was one of her kids. "That's a good girl. Now, where would you like me to take you? Back to work, or home."

"Back to work. Parker will kill me if I miss another shift."

"I doubt that," she murmured, pulling out of the parking lot with practiced ease.

I was a little subdued on the drive there, but Luz filled the empty s.p.a.ce by going over the doctor's instructions again. She had her own two cents to put in on the best kind of prenatal vitamins, what books were helpful and which ones were c.r.a.p. By the time we got there, I was able to join in the conversation as my natural curiosity kicked in.

"I'd better not go inside." Luz handed over my keys, digging in her purse for her own set.

"Why not? Did you and Parker have a fight or something?" They seemed pretty chummy at the wedding.

"No, not a fight. But... I have a date with Remy tonight."

Interesting. I wondered if he'd take her to Adam's sw.a.n.ky pad. "Oh, and you'd rather he not know about it?"

"I'd rather not have it come up at all."

"I read you loud and clear." It didn't mean I'd lie for her, but if her name never came up in conversation with Parker, I'd never bring it up. "Listen, thanks again for coming with me today, it meant a lot to me."

"You're welcome. Call me any time you have questions or you just want to talk, okay?"

"I will."

"And remember, don't worry!" she called out with a laugh.

Yeah, easy for her to say...

Walter, the bouncer at Eden, gave me a bashful smile as I entered the club. Still early, I wondered why he was there already, but didn't stop to chat on my way to the bar.

Parker's smile stretched wide as soon as he caught sight of me. "So, how did the check up go? Is it a girl or a boy?"

"It's way too early to tell, I don't think they can see that for a couple of months."

"Oh." He seemed somewhat disappointed by that. "I still say the name Parker works if it's a boy or a girl."

"Keep dreaming, I told you I'd name my next cat after you, not my firstborn."

"What are you going to name it then?"

I let out a long breath, leaning against the counter beside him. "I have no idea. I guess I'll have to sit down and come up with a list. Nothing too weird, you know?"

"Yeah, but you don't want to go with anything boring either. You need to pick a name with style."

"Trust me, as someone named Mercy, you get a lot of flak as a kid with a different name. So no Angel or Moonbeam or anything celestial just because it's... you know."

"Seriously, did everything go alright at the doctor?" He lowered his voice confidentially, and I wondered how he picked up on it? Jilly stood by the booth talking to Chris the DJ across the room, and there was little chance of being overheard, but he leaned closer.

"Everything's normal, as far as he could tell. It's just... the dates are all wrong," I whispered, my fingers worrying at the knot I'd made a mess of on my ap.r.o.n strings.

"What do you mean wrong?"

"He said I'm about three months along, but I wasn't with anyone three months ago. It's kinda freaking me out."

"Maybe his machine is on the blink?" Parker shrugged. "They get that s.h.i.t wrong all the time, don't worry about it."

"Yeah, maybe." I let out a long breath and he reached out to tilt my head up by the chin.

"Hey, you're really upset about this, aren't you?" His brows drew together with concern.

"Yeah, I know it's stupid, but I really am. I can't help thinking... what if this isn't Adam's baby at all? What if there's something else in there?"

"Come here, darlin'." Parker gathered me into his arms and for once I didn't care if the other employees got the wrong idea about us. I needed that hug more than anything else. "Occam's razor, the easiest explanation is usually the correct one. Technology screws things up all the time. The doc said it looked normal, right? So, that's what we go with."

"Occam's razor?" I pulled back to raise a brow at him.

"What? I watch TV." Parker sniffed self-consciously, making me laugh for the first time all afternoon.

"You're right, I've got to stop freaking myself out like this. It's gonna be fine."

"That's right. Better than fine because you are gonna be one dynamite mother." He tucked the hair back behind my ear with an encouraging smile. "That is one lucky bun in your oven."

That was the second time that day someone used the expression. "Well, I'd better take this baby bun and get to work or I'm going to be one unemployed mother," I replied with a half smile as our first customers of the night came in.

"That's right, back to work, you." Parker snapped a towel at my behind, and I caught it, deftly tossing it back in his own face.

Suddenly, I felt like I could face the world.

I couldn't face my mother.

Too many nagging phone conversations with bits of unsolicited advice had me dodging her calls not two weeks after I'd pledged to look after her. I even made myself imperceptible once when I saw her on my street until she pa.s.sed. Don't judge me, I panicked. Haven't you ever wished you could be invisible to avoid someone you don't want to talk to? Well, I can, so I did. I felt terrible about it afterwards.

After all that stuff with my Dad, I was ready to put a little distance between me and family for a while, but he left town as abruptly as he arrived without trying to contact me at all. I think on some level he realized I wouldn't put up with his c.r.a.p anymore and might have even been a little afraid of me, but I didn't care enough to ask him about it. I was just glad he'd gone without a fight.

I'd been putting Mom off for too long though, wanting to avoid her questions. I decided to bite the bullet and meet her for lunch the next day. My morning sickness definitely started to fade, and I was ravenous as I slid into the booth at the Edgewater's dining room.

Everything looked good, and for once I decided to splurge, even though normally I'm more of a quick meal on the go kind of girl with my budget. I urged my mom to order whatever she wanted too, but she stuck to the cheaper side of the menu.

"We should save our money with the baby coming anyway," she replied after we'd placed our order.

"Our money?" My brows lifted as I caught her use of that particular p.r.o.noun.

"Of course. You don't think I'd let my baby shoulder all the burden on her own do you?" She patted my hand with a smile.

"Um, Mom... what money do you have? You haven't had a job for how long now?" In fact, I wasn't sure how she paid for her day to day expenses, Adam only footed the bill for her hotel room.

"I'll find one." She waved it away as if it was a given. "You'll need my help after the baby comes."

"I'll be fine. I get maternity leave benefits for a few months and then I'll figure something out. It shouldn't be too hard to get some help with babysitting since I don't work usual hours." I figured if Daphne took a night, maybe Sam with a bit of training, Parker... between them, I could keep my childcare costs to a minimum.

"Don't be silly, I'll be around to watch the baby when you're at work. It'll save some money with me moving in with you, but we'll need to get a bigger apartment. I was thinking..."

"Whoa, hold on a sec... you're not moving in with me and I'm not getting a bigger apartment." That needed saying right off the bat. My place might be small, but there was room for a crib in my bedroom.

"But you don't have enough room for a newborn in your apartment," she insisted.

"I'll make do. Besides, I thought you liked staying here at the hotel?"

"It's so impersonal here." Her nose wrinkled with distaste. "And I thought you didn't want to use his money."

She had me there, but for some reason it didn't bother me as much when it was her doing the using. Maybe it was because he'd made the arrangements himself before he left. "I don't, but that doesn't mean you can't. I appreciate the offer of help, I really do. And I can use the babysitting, I'm sure, but I need my own s.p.a.ce, Mom."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure." I laid my hand over hers, sending a pulse of soothing Grace until the pinched look went out of her eyes.

"Alright then, baby. Maybe I'll go back home until the baby comes then? Then I can come up for another long visit?"